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By Tom Niemela
Recently the Elk’s Lodge in Oregon City, Oregon was once again filled to the brim with assorted past, present and future go-fasters along with various dignitaries and benchracers. This year, yours truly was again in charge of MCing the evening, which I find is always a treat, because cycle people are the best. You can always have a great time with so many people that have the same thing in common.
Thanks to the combined efforts of many local dealers, sponsors and the OMRA, gear would be given away free and clear as prizes. People were buying tickets for these prizes by the gross amounts all evening.
This year’s banquet collared over 150 people to show up, feast on a great dinner and receive beautiful trophies by Affordable Trophies. Once again the OMRA had enormous support from various dealers and sponsors in the area such as: Hillsboro Motorcycles, Beaverton Honda/Yamaha, Portland Motorcycle, GI Joes, Amsoil, and Millenium Graphics. Prizes were handed out all evening! Be sure and support these sponsors - they support off-road riding!
The main theme and a constant topic for the evening was the current land closure threats bent on pointing a fatal blow to our sport. There are attacks on our sport all over the state/nation and we must be persistent in promoting a positive image of our sport. We must not let the environmental extremists continue to push their no-compromise agenda on everyone. The current status of the legal issues were discussed and status given by the OMRA attorney, Doug McCourt. Then Ian Caldwell took the podium and discussed his new role as ATV Coordinator for Oregon via State Parks. Ian’s peer, Mike Law couldn't be there, so Ian filled in for him too. Representatives from various clubs then took the podium and informed everyone what their local club was doing, what events they were hosting, plus what kind of trail work and land use issues were at hand in their area. As usual, the various clubs around the state have been very busy! The reps for GI Joes and Amsoil then had a slideshow of what their proposal is for the racing series and incentives for the riders. After that a trophy was presented to our annual Elks helper/host, Anna. She loves us.
Throughout the evening prizes were handed out for lucky ticket holders. Gary Roe got a trophy for being the 'Flat Tire King', since out of 11 races last year; he got a flat in nine of them. Gunny Claypoole received a trophy for 'Most Inspirational and Supportive'.
The annual PBI Sprocket Award was handed out to a surprised Wendy Zustiak for her excellent efforts in promoting our favorite sport in the Eugene area. This award is handed out each year to someone who has put in a major effort for our sport and then gets passed to the next year’s recipient. Then we started into the awards presentations. The Grand Prix, Dualsport and Cross-country plaques were handed out and thanks were given to sponsors, loved ones and organizers.
Then the Team Challenge plaques were handed out. This is a three-rider team consisting of a mix of three expert class riders, three amateur class riders or a three-person mix of amateur or expert. Riders needed to submit their team name and rider list before an event to receive points towards the Team Challenge Series.
The OMRA would like to urge all riders to join and get involved in
protecting your right to ride. For
information, the OMRA can be contacted at (503)678-2779 or via the internet at: www.omra-online.org
Have a fun 2003 and we hope to see you at the events and on the trail!
Click here for the 2002 Series points results.
Lyone Payne Feb 1 2003 6:00:46 pm |
Yours Truly as the MC, Feb 1 2003 7:20:06 pm |
VP Joe Barrell Feb 1 2003 7:23:12 pm |
Secretary Julie Barrell with Chad Rice's boy, Feb 1 2003 7:23:32 pm |
Referee, Billy Toman, Feb 1 2003 7:24:37 pm |
Alternate Referee, Ellis 'Wolf' Cookman, Feb 1 2003 7:25:09 pm |
Attorney Doug Macourt, Feb 1 2003 7:26:43 pm |
ATV Coordinator, Ian Caldwell, Feb 1 2003 7:29:53 pm |
GI Joes and Amsoil presentation, Feb 1 2003 7:40:44 pm |
Anna and her plaque, Feb 1 2003 7:49:58 pm |
Ray Carpenter, Feb 1 2003 7:51:28 pm |
Richard Johnson, Feb 1 2003 7:55:03 pm |
Marty Clough presenting a gag gift to Referee Barrett Brown, Feb 1 2003 8:12:29 pm |
Gary Roe being presented with a special plaque from Randy Thomas, Feb 1 2003 8:30:23 pm |
Gunny talking about this year's Brazilian ISDE, Feb 1 2003 8:36:20 pm |
Points Director, Randy Haugstad, Feb 1 2003 8:56:55 pm |
Cindy & Bob Chamberlain each receiving trophies, Feb 1 2003 9:01:54 pm |
Jeff Pratt Feb 1 2003 9:11:31 pm |
Scott McNew, Feb 1 2003 9:12:35 pm |
Wendy Zustiak and her PBI Sprocket Award. Feb 1 2003 9:16:54 pm |
Jerry Morrell, Feb 1 2003 9:29:36 pm |
David Butt, Feb 1 2003 9:33:31 pm |
Team Challenge winners, Feb 1 2003 9:40:07 pm |
Dan Jordan, Feb 1 2003 9:56:01 pm |
Gary Roe, Feb 1 2003 9:58:09 pm |
Group shot of the trophy recipients, Feb 1 2003 10:19:41 pm |
President Jon Allred, Feb 1 2003 10:21:41 pm |
